


By The Light Of The Silvery Moon

by Creazy (orphan_account)



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: 1940s AU, I'll tag more as it becomes relevant, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2015-07-10
Packaged: 2018-03-22 11:46:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3727651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Creazy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robron 1940s AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's Been A Long, Long Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is my attempt at a 1940s AU. I know we always talked about writing one, but I didn't know if that was still a thing. I was bored and decided to try one anyway. Sorry if it's not accurate. I don't know much about 1940s Europe to be honest. I tried! Also, I never proof read this. Sorry! I'll fix it if I find anything! Thanks for reading! <3 Have a wonderful day!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Work Title: By The Light Of The Silvery Moon - Doris Day  
> Chapter Title: It's Been A Long, Long Time - Bing Crosby

It didn’t take long for the town to notice the return of a familiar face. In a town that small, news traveled pretty fast. The chatter of the women in the town told Aaron that whoever this was that was returning was bad news. It didn’t bother him too much though, he knew how to hold his own. He walked along the dirt street that led to the stable thinking about everything he had to make sure he got done that day.

It took only a few minutes before he got to the barn and decided to get to work. He headed to the hay loft to throw down some bales. He had only just grabbed the first bale when he heard a strange voice coming from below. He quickly threw down the hay and headed down to see where the foreign voice was coming from. It didn’t take him long to spot the golden haired man leaning over a fence stroking a horse and quietly muttering.

He had never seen this guy before, he was sure of it. He moved closer before he heard the guy speaking to the horse just loud enough to hear. “I missed you, girl. I didn’t want to leave you. I promise. I’m sure they’re taking good care of you, though.”

Aaron felt like he was intruding on a tender moment, but he didn’t necessarily trust this stranger alone, so he decided to interrupt. “Looking for someone?” He said with only a mild bite to his words.

The blonde haired boy seemed unphased by Aaron’s words. “No, I just came back to visit my girl, Patience.” He said never bothering to take his eyes off the horse.

“Pardon my asking, but how do you know her then?”

The blonde haired boy looked at Aaron for the first time and gave a soft smile. “She used to be mine. Before I left that is…Robert Sugden, pleasure.” He said offering a handshake.

Aaron knew that name. That was the name of the guy who was suddenly back in the town after running off to who knows where. He was supposed to be really bad news, but Aaron couldn’t tell why. He seemed nice enough. “Aaron.” He said accepting the handshake with a firm nod.

“I don’t remember you.” Robert started. “Did you move to the town after I left?”  
“I’ve lived here most of my life. I guess it would all depend when you left.” Aaron said grabbing a bucket of grain from a nearby bin and heading toward the horses. He thought the conversation was over. What else could they possibly have to talk about? From what Aaron had heard, Robert Sugden was a smug, dirty, lying, cheat, but he didn’t really know why.

“I’ve missed this town, you know.” Robert spoke up. “It has some bad memories, but at the same time, it has a lot of good memories too. That’s why I wanted my fiancé to come back with me. I figured we could make some new memories, maybe some better ones.” He continued.

Aaron was confused why this man who he had just met was basically giving him his life story, but at the same time he didn’t mind it. After all, the man was very fit. He had said fiancé though. “Don’t see why you’d want to come back to this little town.” He said not taking his eyes from his work.

“My family’s here, I guess. I spent so much time with my fiancé’s family before and I guess it made me miss my family. I don’t know.” Robert said still petting Patience’s nose.

Suddenly Aaron heard a voice from behind him. “What are you doing here?” It said with apparent venom.

“I came here to see my horse, if you don’t mind.” Robert snapped coldly. Aaron was extremely surprised at the sudden change of attitude on Robert’s part.

“She’s not yours anymore. You lost the right to call her yours when you up and left the town all those years ago. She’s mine. Now you can get off the property.” Katie said her words containing so much fire it shocked Aaron. He couldn’t remember a time when he had seen her that full of hate.

Robert’s eyes turned dark. “I’m fairly certain I left her to Victoria, not you. There is no way I would leave her to a pathetic call girl like you.”

“You can leave now.” She said her voice beginning to shake a slight bit. Robert gave no response other than a smug smile.

“You heard her.” Aaron said, now angry that this person was being so vile to a woman like Katie. “Get out.” He added taking a step towards Robert.

Robert smiles a wide grin before giving a nod to Katie. “Always a pleasure.” He said before giving a chuckle and turning to start down the dirt path away from the farm.

“I can’t believe he’s back. I have to go tell Andy.” She muttered before heading off toward the farm house.

Aaron was extremely confused. How could someone’s personality change so quickly? He could only assume that what he had just witnessed was the reason that everyone in the town talked poorly about the man. He was quite disgusted with the man’s attitude, but at the same time he didn’t understand why he was so pleasant in the beginning. The mystery of Robert Sugden was one that was not easily solved.

* * *

After he finished at the stable he headed back toward town stopping for a moment at the shop to pick up a few supplies before heading home. It only took a few minutes for him to grab the things he needed at the shop and pay for them, but as he walked out of the shop he came face to face with the last person he wanted to see. Robert Sugden.

“Aaron, right?” Robert said with a smile. Not a cheeky or smug smile, just a normal smile. Aaron wasn’t sure if he trusted anything the man said, but deep down he wanted to be able to trust the man.

“Yeah.” He muttered starting to walk away before Robert stepped in his way once again.

“Listen, about what happened at the stables today. I’m sorry. She brings out the worst in me. I don’t want you to hate me before we’d even gotten a chance to properly talk. I’m not as bad as they all say. I swear.” He said with a genuine look in his eyes.

Aaron wasn’t so easily fooled though. “Move. I don’t have time for this.” He said pushing past Robert once again. This time the golden haired man made no move to try and stop him.

“I’ll prove it to you eventually.” Aaron heard the man say as he walked away and headed toward his house. He didn’t know why the words stuck with him for so long, but part of his brain couldn’t let the man’s words go. Was he really as bad as everyone said he was? Aaron didn’t know, but he was certain he would find out soon enough.


	2. I'll Walk Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert tries to gain Aaron's trust after his blowup with Katie and then tries to find out a little bit more about him.
> 
> Chapter Title: I'll Walk Alone - Dinah Shore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this! This chapter is mostly just buildup the next chapter is going to be the real beginning of everything. Thank you for your support. I'm sorry for my lack of knowledge about British history. I hope you all have lovely days! <3

Aaron set off through the town early in the morning. He wanted to get to the stable early today so he could do some mucking. It didn’t take long after entering the down before he saw the blonde nearby. He noticed some women standing around who were looking in the direction of the young man and he could only assume they were gossiping and probably not about anything positive.

He passed the man without even a second glance. Why should he care about that smug ass? Sure, he was fit, but in the end he was nothing more than an asshole and Aaron was sure of it. At least he thought he was sure of it.

“Thought you were just going to walk past me?” He heard a voice say from behind him.

Aaron rolled his eyes. He knew who it was and he did not have the patience to deal with him. He just wanted to get to the farm and throw himself into his work. He liked animals far better than people anyway.

“Leave me alone. Yeah?” Aaron snapped with far more spite than he had intended.

He glanced over to the man who had now caught up and was walking next to him. The look on the man’s face confused Aaron because it was almost like he was upset that he had been snapped at. Aaron didn’t understand how could he be upset when he treated people awful most of the time anyway?

“I’m sorry for what happened yesterday, okay? I don’t want you to hate me.” Robert said trying to step in front of Aaron in order to force him to look him in the eyes, but Aaron was having none of it.

“You trying to make this a thing?” Aaron said pushing Robert out of the way. “Stay out of my way and I don’t think we’ll have any problems, yeah?” He said and continued on his way.

The farm was only a mile outside of town so Aaron always walked it or rode his bike because it was relaxing and it gave him time to just be alone and think. Unfortunately for him, the stroll that morning was ruined by a nagging and ever persistent man.

“What can I do to prove that I’m not as bad as people say? I know I shouldn’t have had a go at Katie yesterday, but I can’t very well change that now. You’re one of the only people in this town who doesn’t have years of hatred for me pumping through their veins, and I don’t want to mess that up. Give me another chance?” Robert said trying not to step in front of Aaron this time.

Aaron tried his hardest to keep a straight face even though seeing someone so fit trying to make amends with him made him want to chuckle. “Fine, but I’m going to work and this is my only real break of the day, so give me some peace, yeah?” There was no anger behind Aaron’s words now. He didn’t trust this stranger as far as he could throw him, but he knew that in the end there was only one way to stop this incessant nagging.

“Right. Good. I’ll see you around then!” Robert called as he fell back allowing Aaron to walk ahead down the road. If Aaron had turned around right then he would have seen a smile on Robert’s face that would have only furthered his confusion.

It wasn’t the smug smile he had seen several times over the last two days, it was the same kind of smile he had when he had been talking to Patience before Aaron had interrupted. It seemed that there really was another side to Robert, but Aaron wasn’t sure about it.

He walked up to the table nodding to Andy who was working out in the yard. He wondered what Andy had to say about the reemergence of Robert. Katie had been extremely concerned about it after all. He decided to throw himself into his work instead of thinking anymore about it. He needed a distraction anyway. He would do almost anything to keep Robert Sugden out of his head for a while.

* * *

 

Robert couldn’t help but be intrigued by Aaron. He wasn’t sure why he had just spent several minutes trying to make amends with a guy that he had only met once. He had never cared what anyone thought of him before, but this time was different. He didn’t want Aaron to hate him. He walked back toward the town thinking about the events of the morning.

Walking into the pub he immediately spotted Victoria and gave a nod. “Morning.” He said sitting down at the bar.

He had genuinely missed his sister. There was no question about it. She was one of the few people he genuinely missed from the town.

“Where’ve you been?” She said handing him a pint. “I haven’t seen you since yesterday morning.”

“Oh, I..uh..went up to see Patience.” He said avoiding eye contact.

Vic gave him a wide eyed look. “You know she belongs to Andy and Katie now, right?”

“Of course I do, I’m not daft. I just wanted to see her. I’ve missed her.” He said voice bordering on innocence.

Vic knew better than to bring up Katie. She knew that a conversation about her was only going to end poorly so she kept her mouth closed and simply gave a nod.

“Who is Andy’s farmhand?” Robert said after another gulp of beer.

“What? You mean Aaron?” Vic said obviously confused about the inquiry.

“Yeah, I met him when I was up there. Know anything about him?” He asked as casually as he could.

Vic gave him a strange look before answering, but all he got from her was a simple, “Yeah, he’s nice.”

Robert finally looked up at her to see the strange look on her face. “What’s the look about?”

Vic paused for a beat and averted her eyes before clearing her throat. “Nothing, don’t worry about it. He’s nice.”

“Vic, what are you hiding?” He all but demanded.

“Nothing, it’s not a big deal.” She said quickly still refusing to meet Robert’s eyes.

Robert knew something was up, and he wanted to know what it was. Why would his sister be acting so strange when he asked a question about a farmhand? He sat with his beer extremely confused before a thought dawned on him.

“You didn’t…you know…have a thing? Did you?” He said eyes wide. He knew he had missed some events during the years he’d been gone, but it still caught him off guard when he realized how much he had actually missed.

“What? No!” She said eyes wide. “No, I’m…um…not really his type. Plus he had a pretty stable relationship for several years. Seemed like it was going pretty well, but a few months ago something happened. No one really knows. He doesn’t talk about it. I don’t know.”

Robert’s ears perked up when Vic mentioned the possibility of Aaron being single. He didn’t know why this intrigued him so much. He was a little confused, but he felt content in his knowledge.

Just then he looked at the clock. “I’ve got to go, I have a meeting at home with a few old friends of Chrissie’s who are passing through town.” He said giving her a smile and stepping away from the bar.

“Have fun with your fiancé and all of her friends.” She said giving him a smile. She would never tell him, but she was proud of him for finally finding someone to settle down with. She held some secret hopes that this meant Robert was finally ready to grow up and settle down. He just needed to put the past behind him and stay out of trouble.

What she didn’t know was that after stepping out of the building he gave a quick glance in the direction of the farm. He knew he didn’t have time to go visit, and he also knew returning to the farm so soon was probably a bad idea, but he was already making a plan about when he could see Aaron next.

He continued to think about it as he began to stroll toward the house he shared with his fiancé and father in law. He just couldn’t get Aaron out of his head.

 

 


	3. I Can't Begin To Tell You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I Can't Begin To Tell You - Bing Crosby and Carmen Cavallaro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long and I'm also sorry it's bad. I've been extremely ill lately and I've also been dealing with a lot of personal issues. I'm just very genuinely sorry! <3 Thank you for taking time to read this. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Aaron knew that he hadn’t heard the last of Robert, but at the same time he was okay with that. He knew that nothing more would come of it, of course. Robert was engaged to a woman after all, but Aaron still didn’t mind seeing him around the town.

Robert on the other hand, was ready to see Aaron again and seeing him around town wasn’t enough. He ducked under the gate leading into the farm knowing full well that he was not welcome on the property. He just wanted to see Aaron again. Why should he let Katie stop him? He snuck into the barn as quietly as he could. After a thorough sweep to make sure Andy and Katie weren’t around he relaxed and headed further into the barn.

“There’s my girl!” He muttered with a smile when he saw Patience. After giving her a quick pat on the neck he heard some footsteps shuffling behind him. He quickly turned to see Aaron standing there with a confused look.

“They’re not going to like it if they find you here.” Aaron said matter of factly turning to continue with his work.  

“Well I came here to see you, so a little more appreciation would be nice.” He said crossing his arms with a smug grin.

It didn’t take Robert long after noticing Aaron rolling his eyes to remember that he promised Aaron a new start. “Sorry,” he started dropping his head and unfolding his arms. “it’s become sort of second nature. I didn’t mean it.”

“So what do you want?” Aaron said ignoring his apology.

“I was in the neighborhood and I decided to stop by. Figured we could chat for a bit.” Robert said leaning back against the nearest wall.

Aaron knew it wasn’t smart to indulge him, but deep down he didn’t want him to leave. Usually he liked throwing himself into his work and forgetting that people exist, but there was something about Robert that kept him from getting angry about the interruption. He almost welcomed it.

“What do you want to talk about then?” Aaron said stopping what he was doing only momentarily to look at Robert before continuing.

Robert’s heart leapt when Aaron indulged his ask for conversation. He was certain he would turn him down. Robert knew what he wanted to ask, but he had no idea how to bring it up. He also had no real idea why he wanted to bring it up. Why did he care about Aaron’s ex-girlfriend? He did though.

“Vic told me some stuff about you, ya know?” Robert said just trying to start a conversation.

“Oh really? What’s she been saying?” Aaron said now curious about Rob’s intentions.

“Just that you two were mates and that you’re nice. Oh and she assured me that you two never had a thing. She said she’s not your type.” He said with a laugh.

Aaron couldn’t help but laugh at the comment. He let out a loud verbal chuckle. “Yeah, you could say that.” He muttered almost to himself.

Robert sat confused momentarily. Aaron had found the statement far funnier than he had and he didn’t understand why.

“Wait. What do you mean?” He pressed.

Aaron’s smile slowly sank before he turned, returning to his work. “Nevermind, don’t worry about it. I just thought it was kind of funny.”

Robert’s mind burned with curiosity. He knew he shouldn’t press it, but he couldn’t help himself. “If Vic isn’t your kind, what is your kind? Vic said you had a pretty longtime girl a while ago.”

Aaron visibly tensed and Robert noticed right away. “Just leave it.” he said bitterly movements becoming more rigid with each passing second.

“It was just a question. Nothing wrong with having an ex, mate!” He said trying to laugh off the tension. “If you have to let her go, let her go!”

“Mind leaving me to do my work in peace.” Aaron spat with so much fire that Robert’s heart momentarily jumped. He had not been expecting a reaction of that nature. Aaron turned to walk away and put as much distance between him and Robert as possible.

“Wait! Aaron!” Robert said moving to grab his shoulder.

“Leave me alone, yeah?” Aaron nearly shouted.

Robert didn’t understand what he had done, but he was getting frustrated with the lack of response. “Want to tell me what I did wrong this time? Because call me crazy, but I don’t understand why you suddenly hate me again!” He practically shouted.

“Just drop it.” Aaron replied after a moment voice still just as intense as it was before.

“No! I told you that I was going to prove to you that I’m not as bad as my reputation, but I can’t do that if you’re not going to tell me what I did so I can fix it! Or at least try to! Come on Aaron! What the hell did I do?” Robert said getting angry at the lack of response.

By this point Aaron was angry. He didn’t have to dignify the scum that was Robert Sugden with a response, especially not to a question like that. Robert’s anger only fueled the fire within him.

“Maybe don’t assume things about people, yeah? Why don’t you just take your pretty fiancé and go back to wherever the hell you came from? Just do the whole town a favor and do one.” He spat. He knew he was probably going to start a fight, but he didn’t care, he was ready.

“What did I assume? I just told you what Vic said! Nothing about that says assuming, does it? So care to tell me what assumptions I’ve made, because I’m still drawing a blank!” He said stepping to follow Aaron as he turned to walk away.

Aaron knew that he was handling the situation the wrong way, but he couldn’t help it. He was so angry…but at the same time his heart ached. He always threw himself into work because it helped to keep him from thinking about everything that had happened, but here he was face to face with reality and there was no good escape.

What Vic said was right, he had been in a pretty serious relationship for a while, but now he wasn’t and he would do anything to get that back. He sometimes dreamt about it turning out differently, but he could always count that he would also have nightmares about it. The day the letters stopped coming he had already had a feeling that something had happened. It wasn’t until the name reached the ears of the small town and the gossip filled the air that he knew what had happened. He would have done anything to have just one more moment and it killed him that he couldn’t.

 “Aaron…I’m sorry.” Robert said softly, his voice pulling Aaron from his train of thought.

Aaron ran his hands over his face trying to compose himself so that the weakness he was feeling on the inside wasn’t visible on the outside, but he still couldn’t shake the ache that had settled deep in his heart after the anger had dissipated.

Aaron looked up at Robert who was only a few feet away waiting for a response. “Uhm…died…killed actually. Wasn’t a breakup.” He said in a small voice before turning and avoiding eye contact with the taller man by scanning the room for something to work on. The sooner he was able to distract himself and get his mind away from the pain of the past, the better.

Robert’s face dropped. He then understood why he had been so offended by his words. He felt like an ass. “I…I’m sorry…I didn’t know…I shouldn’t have said….I’m sorry. I’m sure she was a great girl, mate.”

Aaron’s body momentarily tensed at the word girl and Robert noticed immediately. “Uhm…yeah…amazing actually. Probably deserved someone better than me anyway.” Aaron said with a small smile remembering all of the stupid arguments they used to have. They never lasted long, but they were arguments none the less. He cherished every memory they had together, even the bad ones, because at least it was time they spent together. “Not sure why he stuck around so long actually…” he laughed still thinking about the treasured memories. His thoughts were cut short though. It took less than a second after he finished the sentence before it hit him what he had said and his body went stiff.

 

“That’s not what I meant…obviously…I just…misspoke and it was stupid…I didn’t…that’s not what I meant to say.” He said shifting to look at Robert to gauge the damage of his words. Robert stood still, obviously surprised, but not angry or anything as Aaron had expected.

After several moments of silence between them the tension Aaron was feeling was overwhelming him. He turned to get back to what he was doing. “I need to get back to work…uhm… Andy’s expecting this stuff done by this afternoon so I should….”

He felt a hand on his shoulder and seconds later was rendered unable to speak. His mind panicked for only a moment before he realized what was happening. Robert’s lips collided with his own and Aaron stood in complete shock for only a second before reciprocating the actions.

After what seemed like minutes Robert pulled away. “I…I’ve gotta go.” He said hesitating for only a moment before turning and heading toward the door.

Neither of them understood the events that had just taken place, but they both knew that whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t the end. It was only the beginning. 


	4. I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the stolen kiss Aaron is confused, but what he doesn't know is that Robert is confused too. Aaron decides he can't let himself get hurt again, or maybe he can. 
> 
> Chapter Title: I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good - Duke Ellington

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: My knowledge about the British history of WW2 is entirely subjective to the perspective of what I, as an American, learned about in high school. Please pardon any history inaccuracies. Also, I'm asexual so if anyone wants to write a smut scene for this, let me know and I'll give you co-author credits. I'm really shitty at writing that stuff. I have no idea what people want to read. Let me know.

After two days without seeing Robert at all Aaron was sure that it had all been a mistake. There was no denying it. It was a mistake. He knew that he just had to shake off whatever residual feelings he had maintained over the past days of pondering the stolen kiss in the barn. Robert had a fiance and although he was labeled as a cheater by the people in the town, it didn't mean that he would ever cheat with a man. That wasn't something people do. It's a secret. It's taboo. No one talks about such things. Aaron lived by a rule that his life was on a need to know basis and quite frankly, no one needed to know. Robert had just found himself at the right place at the right time to learn a few of his deep dark secrets. He was just so easy to talk to. Arguably too easy to talk to. 

Aaron couldn't stop thinking about him. He thought about him all day, hoping he might make a sneaky trip to the barn or maybe just run into him in the village, but he never did. Not to say that the disappointment he was feeling was entirely because of the lack of Robert's visual presence, but also a small fraction, although a larger fraction than Aaron would like to admit, was because he knew that the kiss between them had been a mistake and it would never happen again. When thinking about that he was filled with relief with a few passing notes of extreme disappointment. He missed Jackson more than words could explain, and after the message had come that Jackson had been killed in action Aaron's world crumbled. He knew he couldn't go through that again. He didn't want to go through that again. That's why he couldn't let himself become invested in Robert. It was pointless. It could only end in heartbreak. 

What Aaron didn't know was that Robert was fighting an internal battle of his own.

* * *

Robert was sat at Home Farm with a half empty glass in his hand. His mind miles away from his body, wondering into the dark recesses of his mind and pulling up a lot of thoughts that he had no desire to confront. For example, for the past two and a half days his mind was unable to stop thinking about the vaguely grumpy farmhand. He tried to stay away, and he tried to distract himself but nothing worked. He replayed the kiss in his head over and over. Robert hadn't the slightest idea why he had done that in the first place. He didn't understand what part of his brain found it appropriate, but at the same time, he didn't understand why he had enjoyed it so much. Each time it was brought to the forefront of his memory he couldn't help but smile to himself in a way that would look strange to others. Well, it did look strange to others. 

"What are you over there smiling about?" Chrissie chimed as she entered the room and headed toward her fiance. 

"Nothing, I was just thinking about you. How lucky I am, you know. Sometimes I don't understand what I did to deserve you." He smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

He wasn't lying. He truly loved her, and although his past actions had brandished him a cheater, he had never had the intention to cheat on her. Especially not with a man. No. That was an insane thought. That's not something that people talked about. Robert was in love with Chrissie and that was the end of it, or at least that's what he tried to tell his mind. He had never had a problem staying faithful when it came to Chrissie, that was, until now. Why did he have these strange feelings? He couldn't explain them. He felt almost giddy when he thought about Aaron. It made him inexplicably happy, and it was wrong. He needed to stop and collect himself. He had a beautiful fiance and her father held a fairly high standing in the industry so Robert was sitting pretty with his new family. There was nothing else he could possibly want. Or was there. He didn't know how he felt anymore. He just needed to give it time to die out. Obviously the emotions he was feeling were simply temporary and his life would soon return to normal. He just had to keep telling himself that. 

He gave Chrissie another hug and a kiss. It would go away, he was sure of it. Nothing to worry about. 

* * *

After almost two weeks of life returning back to normal Aaron had accepted that Robert avoiding him was just going to be the new way of life. He didn't much mind it actually. It made his life easier. It was far easier to deny your feelings when there was nothing to remind you that they exist in the first place. Aaron's solution was just to push his emotions to the very back of his mind and eventually they would be a distant memory. Being gay was not something that people just shouted out. Only a select few knew his story and most only from finding out the hard way. Now he could add Robert to that list, which he can't say he was too pleased about. Aaron opened his wallet to briefly admire the picture he had stuffed in the folds. It was just a picture of Jackson in his navy uniform, but it was enough to make him smile on even the worst days. 

"Aaron!" He heard a voice call from outside of the barn. He knew that voice and he wasn't too pleased to hear it. He quickly shoved the photo back into his wallet and placed it back in his pocket. 

"Can I do something for you?" Aaron replied dryly as the blond figure briskly approached. 

"Uhm...I..uh...I was wondering if....you..uh...wanted to go get a drink after you're done here?" Robert asking in a small and uncertain voice. 

Aaron was confused. "Why?" He questioned. 

"It's okay if you don't want to, just thought since we haven't talked in a while that maybe you'd...you know..want to grab a drink." 

The strange uncertainty in Robert's voice threw him off. Robert was usually very suave and charming. He didn't stutter and he was always bold and present. Now he just seemed shy and small. It was unusual and Aaron noticed it straight away.

"Is something wrong?" Aaron asked slowly trying to read Robert's expression for a sign or an explanation.

Robert's eyes went wide as if that was the most shocking question to ever be asked. "No! Uhm. No, nothing's wrong. I just thought it'd be cool, but it's fine if you're busy." He said mildly stumbling over his words again.

"What's going on with you?" Aaron asked with a laugh. It was almost sad to see a man who was usually so cool calm and collected crumble into a puddle of stutters and shyness before him.

"Can we talk?" Robert said after a pause.  

"Yeah...Katie and Andy are gone, so we can just talk here. What's going on?" Aaron wasn't exactly sure what it was about, but he felt like it was probably something to do with the event that took place 2 weeks ago. "Look if this is about what happened before, it's cool, just forget it happened. No big deal." 

Robert's eyes were unfocused and he looked as though he couldn't find a comfortable standing position the way he was shifting his weight around every several seconds. "I want to forget it. Oh god do I want to forget it." Robert said. 

"Okay, great, problem solved." Aaron said cooly. He wasn't interested in making it any harder than it had to be. 

"No, that's the problem. I can't forget. I want to forget, but I can't. All I can think about is that kiss and how good it was and how I want to do it again, but I can't. I'm engaged to Chrissie and I love her very much, but it's been two weeks and I still think about you far more than I'd like to admit. I think about our kiss and I think about the times we'd hung out together. I don't understand my feelings and I don't want to pretend that they aren't there anymore because that's not working. I just know that I have feelings for you that I can't explain and my brain tells me to ignore it and it will go away, but I've tried that and so far it hasn't worked too well."

Aaron stood in shock. He had not expected that in the slightest. He was planning to just defuse the tension and then move on. This was a whole other beast. One that he wasn't ready for. After that fountain of emotion he couldn't keep his emotions sealed away as tightly has they had been. He wanted to tell Robert that he felt it too, but he couldn't do that to himself and he couldn't to that to Robert and his fiance. He couldn't help but look at Robert's eyes and see the true confusion in them. He knew how he was feeling. He'd been there before and it was surreal. He knew that he could help him, but would it be worth it.

"Robert...I..." Aaron started, but Robert had been slowly inching closer and the idea to lie to him flew from his mind and was replaced with one that was very much not his intention. He quickly leaned forward and closed the space between them. The spark was still there. It wasn't even a spark anymore, it was a flame. Their kiss quickened and only when it felt as though they were going to suffocate, did they break apart. 

Aaron realized what he had done. He had just kissed a soon to be married man. He had promised himself that he would stay as far away from this situation. He couldn't handle any more heartbreak. He pulled back realizing his mistake. "Robert I'm sorry." He said quickly. 

"No, don't." Robert said pulling him back gently. "I don't know why, but I really don't want you to go. Please." Robert's face was set with only a subtle hint of the previously shy and unsure Robert left. His eyes told Aaron that he was sure with his actions in this moment, so he relaxed. "I thought I would come here and figure things out. I was hoping to eliminate the confusion." He said with a small smile as he pulled Aaron in closer and grabbed him by the waist. "I can honestly say, I have never been more confused in my life, but I'm pretty happy with it at this moment." 

This was the Robert that Aaron had known. The suave man who subtly took over every room he entered with his charm and charisma. Everything had just become so much more complicated than Aaron had imagined. He felt like he was going to fall again and he knew that it wasn't an option, but what else was he going to do. Everything was messed up and confusing.  

Aaron leaned up to connect their lips again and this time Robert took control of the kiss. Aaron had no idea was he was going to do about the situation and a large he kind of wanted to just leave things as they were. Throw morals to the wind...at least for now. What could be the harm, right?

* * *

 

 


End file.
